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First, Jamey Newberg's essay on Buck and his future …I would advise you to read it all, but here is a small highlight:
Even the best managers have a shelf life. Circumstances inevitably lead to a breakup, sometimes by the manager's choice and other times anything but. But that's only the second most interesting thing about the SI poll.
What's most interesting to me is who was polled. We don't know which players SI questioned, and what criteria the publication used to determine which players to ask. Did they have to have played for more than one club? Did they have to vote within their own league? Could they vote for their own skipper?
Which players were polled is really not very important. But the fact that the survey exclusively involved big league players is significant, I think. Doesn't the fact that nearly two-thirds of the players in the major leagues were asked to weigh in mean something, when free agency is a bigger factor in baseball than in any sport?
Likeability certainly isn't on the list of prerequisites for a big league manager or coach, but isn't any reason that a marquis player may not want to play in Texas a reason that needs to be considered?
It was a players' poll. Four hundred seventy baseball players who are, by definition, current or potential Texas Rangers.
Here's what I think, and let me reiterate that I'm just a fan, entitled to an opinion because it's my team but not entitled, in this case, to assume my opinion has any basis in fact.
I think Showalter has proven that he is among the best in baseball at taking a bad baseball team and making it better. At taking a collection of young baseball players and teaching them how to prepare and how to manage the grind. At getting a team on the right track. But then what?
Meanwhile, someone whose opinion I respect far less than Jamey's, Tom Hicks on the pitching …
As usual, that meant that a lot of talk centered on pitching. With less than 30 games to go in the season, only one spot in the 2007 starting rotation is guaranteed. That goes to Kevin Millwood.
Hicks said the team remains interested in all three of its potential free-agent starters: Vicente Padilla, Adam Eaton and Kip Wells. Padilla stands to command the most money and longest commitment. Hicks said the club does not view off-the-field issues as a problem with Padilla. Padilla was charged with DWI after a July 7 traffic stop, but those charges have been dropped.
"I think [Padilla] has responded well to [pitching coach] Mark Connor and to Buck [Showalter]," Hicks said. "He comes from a different place than the rest of us. I'm fine with his off-the-field behavior. He had one incident, but everything worked out fine."
Hicks said he also is interested in watching Robinson Tejeda and Edinson Volquez pitch in September but that he has made no request for top pitching prospect John Danks to be called up.
The rest of the answers will have to come during the winter trading and free-agent bazaar.
"We're going to wait and see how people pitch the rest of the year," Hicks said. "But we're going to have another busy off-season."
Galloway on the Guy Morriss – Gary Patterson fun …
So, here's Morriss, talking smack at Baylor alum functions about Patterson.
"Walk past him, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up."
"When he's around, my skin crawls."
"He likes to hear himself talk. And he talks a lot."
Yo, baybee.
My personal mission for this week was to stir this pot some more.
TCU-Baylor is an old Southwest Conference rivalry revived, and that receives my highest approval. Plus, we could also be in for a good game Sunday. And now the head coach at Baylor was throwing in some verbal jalapenos.
When bad blood is spilled in sports, I immediately go CSI.
Coach Patterson, what's this all about?
"Truthfully, I don't know," he said. "I've probably only talked to Guy three times ever. But some members of his staff are good friends of mine, have been for a long time, and will continue to be."
Are you mad, coach?
"Not really. More like puzzled. Don't know where it all came from. I know I'm a young coach, and I talk a lot, but if I don't talk about TCU, and promote us, who will?"
Gary, uh, would you like to fire back at Guy?
"Early in the summer, I put a gag order on our players for this opening game. I didn't want them calling friends who are Baylor players, or text-messaging, with any smack talk.
"I'd just say if Guy doesn't want to like me, then he doesn't have to like me. It's OK."
I admit I know nothing about writing. But has Galloway ever constructed an entire paragraph? Why not combine sentences into a paragraph sometimes?
The Barnhouse top 25 …
5 Texas The Longhorns should make a good run at defending their title, but Job One
is getting effective quarterback play.
13 Oklahoma If the Sooners can squeeze something out of the passing game, OU will be OK with RB Adrian Peterson aiming for 2,200 yards.
20 TCU The Frogs have outstanding depth at running back but QB Jeff Ballard must keep playing as he did last season.
22 Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach gets to prove his pass-happy attack can succeed with a non-senior at quarterback.
25 Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan's West Coast offense is finally producing as QB Zac Taylor has improved.
Here is a great link that shows you the television schedule for college football …nicely done…
Wow. The DMN with another blog! How original. Here is there college football blog ..
OK. Yesterday on the show we covered many things. Here are some items to follow up on those:
#1 – The blood letting UFC fight discussed during "What's on my Tivo" – Watch at your own risk.
#2 – The great Nascar Audio from "Wally's World" can be found Here …Gold, Jerry.
And #3 – The controversial Don Nelson segments yesterday generated a huge amount of feedback. Here is a sampling of my email. Some like me, some don't:
Bob, I could not have agreed with you more on your comments about Don Nelson. While I give him a lot of credit for rebuilding the Mavs, his antics over the last couple of years have made me lose all respect for him.
The four reasons for being pissed were right on, but let me add a fifth - his refusal to even try to coach defense. One of the things that led to their breakup was Cuban's OUTRAGEOUS demand that Nelson try to coach some defense. When asked about it on Norm's show, Nellie responded that if a player wasn't a defensive player, he couldn't be taught to be one.
Excuse me, but isn't a coach's job to teach players what they don't already know? Avery has proven that while the Mavs will never be the Pistons, they can at least be respectable defensively.
I say good riddance to Nellie. I'm sick of him laughing all the way to the bank around here. Let him take his act to Golden State, where he can get back with his old drinking buddy, Chris Mullin.
Keep speaking the truth.
Larry in Garland
I didn't get a chance to tell you what made me believe the Dampier deal went down the way I said it did. You have to understand , Nellie to me is like the bretts to you, I read every interview and follow every story about him. Soon after the Dampier trade went down and the team was preparing for training camp and the 03-04 season , Nellie was asked in an interview about his team and he said "it's Mark's vision now". Nobody paid any attention to this quote , except me of course. I knew then that this was Nellie's way of letting people know that he didn't make all the personell decisions anymore and I think it was his way of telling people that he didn't pull the strings on the Dampier deal. Remember it was only after the Dampier deal that Cuban put a muzzle on his announcers and told them not to talk about contracts anymore on the air.
Even if I'm wrong about the details , it's no secret that the realtionship was getting bad and it was only a matter of time before he left anyways.
Your behavior in all of this has been horrible. Instead of focusing on the big picture and all of Nellie's contributions while he was here you decide to rip him on his way out of town. You ripped him while he was coaching , you ripped for how he resigned, and now you rip him when he takes another job. The most ridiculous part of all of this is you ego driven stance on the media reaction to his new coaching job. Everyone else is sucking up to nellie , while you alone, the great Bob Sturm, is being objective, What crap. The rest of the media is doing the right thing, they are thanking him for his work here.
Has it ever occurred to you that you are the one who is not objective ? I fully admit my bias , maybe you should to. Go warriors ! Keith
I was ecstatic to hear your point of view on Don Nelson today (8/30) at lunch. I am one of the biggest Maverick fans in Dallas. I am a 5 year season ticket holder (thanks to Don Nelson and Mark Cuban) and I have more time and money invested in them than anything else in my life (except my house and marriage)
I was one of Nellie's biggest supporters for 5 years. And while I agree he is/was a "good guy" a likeable guy I contended 2 years ago that he QUIT on his team and organization. No one can convince me otherwise. When I first heard he was letting Avery run practices I thought to myself that this was Nellie's way of taking some time off to perhaps spend with his Ailing wife who had cancer or perhaps to ease the riggers of coaching and thereby improving his own Health!
And that might have been the case at first. However, then I heard him say that he had actually planned to "miss" a few games and let Avery do the coaching.HuH? So he got kicked out of a few games (on purpose) so Avery could coach the team. Remember when he kicked the ball in the stands? Remember when he got kicked out of a San Antonio Spurs game in the first quarter!?!?! That was intentional too.
If Bill Parcell's said "hey I'm going to take a few games off and let my assistants coach the game people would have flipped out! Double Standard.
Then to top it off Nellie got his feelings hurt when little Stevie Cash took the money and went to Phoenix. Boo Hoo. So Nellie decided to QUIT on his team mid way through the 2004 season. Thank god Avery was around to help pick up the peaces.
Plus I have heard Nellie actually try and take credit for hiring Avery and grooming him to be the next coach. That's crap. I don't buy that. But it was better that Avery was the coach and he is exactly what we needed.
So Nellie sits around doing nothing for a year and a half collecting a big fat check from Cuban and now that the money is drying up all of the sudden he is ready to coach again . . . . . how convenient.
Nellie is great at making a bad team into a good team but he can't make a good team into a Great Team. So for Golden State he is perfect. For the Mavs it was time for him to go and Avery is perfect. So it all worked out. But I don't think Nellie deserves a send off party or a pass.
Call him for what he is:
Good Coach
Fun Guy
Exciting style of play
The more I listen to you Bob the more I find that we have similar opinions.
Except for I hate Dan!
Perry Hood
Hey Bob,
I love you, i love Dan, i love your show but you're sounding like Dale Hansen when he's talking about the Boys. But seriously, you are losing your cred points here.
We know that what he did, by switching teams just when his checks from Cuban started drying out, is absolutely absurd. But this is also the fact about Nelly, he's a nice guy but do we really know that he didnt get pushed out by Mark Cuban? Mark Cuban had a lot to do with this, Why dont we list the last few years of his stay with the Mavs, we start with his demotion, Donnie's promotion, Dirk's benching in the series against the Spurs, Free-Agent players that Nelly wanted that Cuban ignored, to FA players that Cuban signed-off that Nelly didnt like, the hiring of Avery, and the final straw, the let go of MVP Steve Nash. Of course he also made bone-headed deals, like Bradley, Wang, that Euro player, but nobody's perfect.
There's a similar scenario happening now, the Parcells and Jerry Jones relationship. The only difference is that Parcells has more cred, and has more pull in his team than Nelly with Cuban. Also the fact that Jerry Jones wanted the Tuna while Cuban came in into Nelly's team. I think thats a big difference. Just think about all the Jones signings versus the Parcells signings. Its very interesting.
The truth could be, Nelly just squeeked out all the money he can squeeze out of Cuban as a sort of payback. Because the way he left the Mavs was more like a buy-out than anything else. I think he's just going where he is needed, which is exactly the opposite of his final seasons here with the Mavs.
If you do read this, Thanks man.
Love the Show!... Love everything!... though tell Donovan to put his ego aside a lil bit. I think he needs to know that the Ticket is about the little guy. The little guy that gets beat the hell out by punks. Remind him that the Ticket's history does say alot about Big Ego guys that used to work there. Shoot, even Big Dick got canned. I guess if your name is BIG DICK, that would explain it all.
Noone saying anything should be a slap in the face to Nelly. I think people around here feel that we are better off without him, we're winning. If we would have struggled since his departure, people would have a problem. Golden State can have him…
Chris T. Lee
So there you have it. Those who agree with me think I am smart. Those who disagree think I am dumb. Welcome to Sportsradio.
Today's Youtube:
Genius in so many ways.
I don't care where you go to school, dorks are everywhere. Here are some from Baylor:
Well, the final preseason Cowboys game is upon us. Do you like me or hate me for going an entire blog without any mention of Owens?


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October 12, 2008
Subtractive Software
Software developer Brent Simmons shares some interesting thoughts on how & why applications grow and grow:
Here's the schizo thing about software development (at least on Macs):
1. Everybody praises apps that don't have a ton of preferences and features.
2. Everybody asks for some new preferences and features.
(Okay, not everybody. Not you, I know. I mean everybody else.)
To make it worse:
1. Everybody thinks they're representative of the typical user, so what they want ought to be a no-brainer.
2. And they act like you put skunks in their fridge if you don't do whatever-it-is.
(Okay, again — not you. You're cool. I'm talking about the others.)
The problem is 100 times worse when it comes to deleting features…
It's extremely difficult to remove features from Photoshop. Once you've gotten someone to rely on a bit of functionality, you feel responsible for not letting them down (making me think of The Little Prince). All features, even if many years old and seemingly unchanged, consume effort to maintain, especially when we're modernizing the application architecture (for 64-bit, Cocoa, GPU, better localization, etc.). Even so, we're loathe to pull the rug out from under anyone.
No one uses everything in the app, and yet everything in the app is used by someone. Even if a feature benefits only 1% of customers, that translates into tens of thousands of people–and that's just counting the ones paying for any given version (not those with older copies, and not counting thieves).
Here's a case in point: A couple of cycles back (CS, I believe), we decided that the 3D Transform filter had outlived its usefulness, so we decided to send it to the Restful Menus Retirement Home (offering it on the product DVD, but no longer installing it by default). No one ever talked about using this feature, and yet as soon as we moved it, the tech support calls started piling up. Even a couple of years later, Pete Bauer from the NAPP Help Desk reported that they'd still gotten 25 inquiries within a month. I've started to think that the best way to find out who uses a feature is to try removing it.
Why do I mention all this? Two reasons:
- Maybe we can't remove (many) features–but you can. Configurator is about subtraction. Taken together with Photoshop's ability to remove menu items & to save workspaces that apply custom menu/panel/keyboard arrangements, Configurator helps you assemble versions of Photoshop that are "everything you need, nothing you don't." Most people will probably never get around to creating their own configurations, but because they'll be extremely easy to share, everyone can benefit from them.
- We've bitten the bullet with this release and have sent a number of features into retirement. Extract, Pattern Maker, Web Photo Gallery, Contact Sheet, Picture Package, and PDF Presentation have been removed from the default installation. The latter four have been replaced by the Output module in Bridge CS4, and our intention is to replace Extract with features inside Photoshop (building on Refine Edge & more). All of these except PDF Presentation will remain available as optional installs (to be posted on Adobe.com), but over time they'll be phased out.
There aren't any magic bullets here, and as I say, we're loathe to disrupt existing workflows. We can't sit still, however, and with CS4 we're making progress on multiple fronts.
Well, obviously for all of those features that were removed from Photoshop, there is a replacement in one form or another. So techincally, you didn't really remove features like the Dreamweaver team did when they dropped the animation timeline (which they had to reintroduce due to customer complaints). However, in some cases the replacements, even if superior, can be a bit problematic.
[That's true, and the CS4 replacements for CS3 features aren't necessarily supersets. That is, you can do most of the things you could do before (and of course you can do many new/better things), but it's often impractical to replicate features wholesale. –J.]
For example, I'm really happy that you chose to add a "Use Legacy" check box to both CS3's updated Brightness/Contrast and CS4's new Dodge and Burn tools instead of just replacing the old behavior. I use both a lot when manipulating masks and alpha channels, and for those use cases the legacy behavior is essential. In fact, I can't remember ever using those tools for what they were originally intended for.
My point is, when you remove a feature, you most likely only think of the use it is intended for. Many people use features for entirely different things. For example, from what I have heard, a lot of people (ab)use the Extract filter to generate creative grunge borders for their images. So when you drop that feature, thinking that you replaced it with something that does a much better job (quick selection/refine edge etc.), you always need to be aware that you might be removing a solution to an entirely different problem.
[Good point, and very true. –J.]
However, in the past I have been very happy with the choices you guys have made, and as I mentioned, in every case relevant to me you added a "use legacy" option, which is just perfect. I just wish B/C would remember my last choice of that option, but hey, that's just peanuts.
About those features and preferences: Personally, I don't mind a complex application with a lot of preferences and features. I prefer to really learn a tool and be able to tweak more settings if I am rewarded with more power and being able to work faster/more efficiently in the end. But I realize that I am different than most people in that respect and that you guys have to find a balance, which I can imagine is everything but easy.
[Oh, it's super easy; hence the obviously short hours. ;-P –J.]
As a fellow software engineer I'd have to disagree to a certain extent. Having software be monolithic is a dated way of viewing a product. I think Firefox is indicative of the future of software functionality and features. The core browser is solid, however alone it lacks many features. A majority of Firefox's functionality is enabled by 3rd party add ins. I think as time moves forward, everything should be made an add in in Photoshop, whether they are written by Adobe or 3rd party developers. Even things we take for granted, such as selection tools, should all be handled by separate add ins. This makes it easy to separate core graphics logic from user facing tools. But that's just my 2 cents.
[It's a great vision, and we're working hard to make Photoshop & the whole Suite much more modular and flexible. This is, of course, anything but an overnight endeavor, and people expect the plane to keep flying even while we're swapping out the wings. –J.]
So what's the story with Pattern Maker? Did you expect to expand on it in a later version? Did people just not get it or was it ill-conceived?
[I don't have the background on that one as it was done prior to my arrival. The feature *does* offer useful functionality, but we decided it wasn't used enough to warrant rewriting the framework (as would be required for other architectural reasons). –J.]
I quite like 'extract' but never spent enough time to figure out how to get clean edges. (it's also too modal and doesn't play nice with mattes). Did that not work out the way you expected?
[We'd like to integrate these capabilities more organically in Photoshop, instead of in a modal dialog. Not all the new pieces were ready for prime time by CS4. –J.]
I'd love to know the story with these unloved features – how they made it in and why they were never improved.
Configurator seems promising, but it's not what I imagined it to be. I imagined, for example, customizing *the* toolbox; removing and rearranging tools. I imagined doing this *before* I could design my own crazy multimedia windows, because (taking into account and adjusting for Brent's I'm-representative fallacy) it seems like the kind of thing people were asking for.
[You're certainly right that people have asked for what seem like more modest things (e.g. tweaking the standard toolbar). Our job, however, is often to filter what people ask for into what they need (which may be a different animal). As Henry Ford said, "If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse." Sometimes we try to leapfrog the seemingly simpler things (which may not be simple at all, as they involve years' worth of code) in order to deliver much more flexible solutions. –J.]
I understand that with the various kinds of scripts and swfs there's a high degree of shall we say "turing completeness". You can probably craft a custom palette^Wpanel (why did you switch words, again?)
[To be consistent with the rest of the Suite. I liked "palettes," but the Macromedia & Adobe video apps already used "panels," so that term won out. –J.]
to do most any task in Photoshop. But it's not the capability I'm worried about.
It just doesn't seem like the part that was promised. I understand that the part that's left out is probably the hardest and that you're hopefully hard at work on it right now.
But from what I've seen of Configurator, it requires conscious effort, taste and a determined mind to put together something that feels like a Photoshop panel, and certainly it requires starting from the ground up in many cases. Microsoft Office-like "Customize" panels, for all their faults, do not.
The intent to fix all this is clearly there, and I applaud the Photoshop team for it. Transforming the interface of a dead serious production app is not something to take lightly. But I want to remind you that it's not all there yet.
[True enough. It's also likely that we'll see lots of crap panels get produced (as has happened with Dashboard widgets, Web pages, iPhone apps, etc.), but that it'll then be possible to sort out the real gems. –J.]
If only Configurator could add "Crossplatform upgrade" feature to cs4 – i'd be all set.
[You can switch platforms by calling Customer Service. Here's some more info. –J.]
Mmmmm. Progress… smells like autumn leaves.
I never could get Extract to work right, even after watching Dr. Brown's tutorials. (Dr. Brown… doesn't he make a really good Cream Soda?)
"Extract, Pattern Maker, Web Photo Gallery, Contact Sheet, Picture Package, and PDF Presentation have been removed from the default installation"
Damn, you guys killed my entire workflow in one sentence. ;)
The configurator sounds really cool, but it who came up with that name, George W. Bush ?
[*I'm* the decider. :-) Actually I came up with the name just as a placeholder (and kind of to be ridiculous), but no one offered anything more descriptive and/or memorable, so here we are. –J.]
Actually I use Pattern Maker for removing hotspots on faces via a channel based layer mask, as taught by Guy Gowan..
I use Extract a lot, mainly for extracting (HA! ;) or (more often) creating masks. So I guess I'm _exactly_ the very user you had in mind when removing Extract in favor of other ways to create masks and the like. But take this: I'm also using the quick selection tool and refine edge in cs3 as an alternative, but I still prefer Extract. Why? Because it's way faster than the quick selection tool when using it with big photos. I'm using an 3-year-old G5, this seems too slow for quick selection ("quick" selection is a bit… ironic). Sure, I have to do a lot of refinement on Extract results, and the modal dialog is way from ideal. I hope, the quick selection tool (or any other tool, that I could use instead) will be a bit faster in cs4. And don't you tell me to buy a new Mac Pro :) (It's planned already, just waiting for Apple)
If Contact Sheet is actually just a script then presumably it could stay – which would be a VERY welcome thing.
Why? because I am more likely to open Photoshop to do a quick bit of crop, resize, colour edit than anything else and 'current' experience would show than opening another piece of software to do another job is not really a productivity gain. Not everyone uses Bridge to manage tasks like this. So can we have it back soon please.
You didn't remove any thing important and for the most part you just moved the features to a more appropriate place/application. Extract was never very good and you never bothered to try to make it good, the same with pattern maker. As for PDF presentations, well I can't think of anything more tacky that a slideshow in PDF format.
The problem with Adobe at least from my perspective is based on what you decide to add, upgrade, fix, improve, etc. you haven't much of a clue. Things that should have been stellar features from the get go have yet to be fixed. They were added to Photoshop in a poor or if you will half-assed way to begin with and Adobe having been told that over and over by complaints and improvements suggestions just goes right on ignoring it. With this I have no faith of any kind that Adobe or the Photoshop engineers would have any clue about features that they could really remove without causing a world of trouble for people. Just because the people at Adobe don't like or use something themselves doesn't mean the real world is the same.
I also feel that your little pro pets that Adobe people seem to like to invite in for lunch and the like and then take all of their suggestions like moses on the mount have done a far more bit of damage than just about any other single source of information that Adobe uses to make choices. They maybe professionals (that is debatable) but that doesn't mean they have a clue as to how the majority of the users of your software work with your product.
I would like to see Adobe hold a poll once between Photoshop updates and let people vote on one improvement or new feature that Adobe adds to the product. The improvement or feature that gets the most votes gets added. I know you talked about this with the top 10 or 25 or something, but I would be happy with a more modest one improvement or new feature. Let the user's pick something.
I also want to be far here. Adobe and the engineers have updated old features in CS4 one of my top favorites is the dodge and burn tools. These are now two very killer features. My question has to be about that is what the hell took so long. But, CS4 does offer some updates and fixes that are quite nice and I thank the Adobe team for fixing something. Though there is still a lot of things that need some work.
How about nuking one of the enuduring and really evil bugs before you worry about underused features? Specifically, how about getting rid of the toxic black in CMYK files? The one which puts 100C100M100Y100K into anything you "fill with black"?
I got bitten by that little darling back in PS 3? 4? Good thing the service bureau called and asked if I meant the background behind my image to be unprintable.
This bug is a minefield waiting to trap the unwary. Note also that the other "fill with" formulae may not produce exactly what one expects.
Although this response may be considered a little "off topic" by some I will proceed. I remember when web browsers were first being developed and the idea of "plug ins" excited me because I thought it meant you would install a base browser and then be able to add functionality "a la carte." While plug in development for browsers remains and Firefox supports this much better than IE I still feel like browsers too have become "bloat ware". I would like the option with in any application install, but especially within Adobe's suite, to pick very specific parts of the program to install so that I can easily customize the app right at install and then easily add or subtract features as my needs change.
I hate to be that guy, but "loathe" is a verb. You're looking for the adjective "loath".
[Ah! I didn't know that one, but thanks for the tip. I do get hung up on these bits (and was talking yesterday to my wife about my eternal dislike of the misplaced apostrophe in "lil'"), so the pedantry is welcome. –J.]
I can understand the people who go no duh… you *have* to have this feature… without understanding social and programming aspects. Must be difficult.
But I'm hoping still, that some of the features I suggested (Last Year's vacation you were on for the Holidays) weren't that off-base.
Out of those suggestions I made I'm still wanting something to organize my 500+ fonts since I can't use Font Book in Photoshop. I'm aware of the current organizer, but I really do need something that helps me categorize and organize for certain projects. For example, organize all my serif fonts into one place. Organize my fonts for certain projects under their own folders. Organize for decorative fonts. Organize for san-serif fonts. Because often I have no idea which font I want, but I know the rough category I would use. I end up using Font Book on the Mac to find the font and having to go to Adobe Photoshop to type it in and then find that perhaps that's not the font I want for the text given and have to go back to Font Book. It's a horrid work flow and I feel worse for the Windows users who have to use Shift+up arrow to scroll through their fonts which can be over 1000 or more. Saving fonts into a menu *with the size* I can understand for Frequently used fonts, but it's not the same thing as being able to improve the work flow with the 500+ fonts and the fonts I constantly have to add each time.
I'd even settle for something crappy like a modified version of the actions palette with folders to put the fonts down into. But I'd really like *something* to organize fonts so I can find them more quickly. A category for all… and then user categories. Brushes has this to some extent, patterns too… so for the user it shouldn't be that much of a leap to organize fonts into groups to use as well. (Though I'd like folders for the mounting end of the brushes too. Because it's hell remembering who made what brush and give them credit… but fonts is more pressing.)
Am I dreaming and thinking this feature would be useful for the people who have font addictions and like Photoshop for making graphics? It's probably too much to ask for it across the board of Adobe products since I know you guys compete against each other. Even if not for Photoshop, it would be really, really useful for In Design which primarily deals with type.
I'd pre-order Photoshop if it had this simple capability. It would be a serious time saver and I wouldn't be so afraid to DL more fonts.
I just absolutely laughed out loud reading the quoted comments by Brent Simmons at the beginning of this post, because they're sooooo true – not about me, of course.
I don't check back with your blog often enough, John. But I will from now on. Thanks for your thoughtful writing.
You know this, but I feel I should point out anew that Extract is worlds better than Refine Edges / Quick Select for cutting out photos with hair. I'd also like to point out that plenty of I.T. administrators are absolutely not going to bend over backwards to install extra features for individual users, so for those of us using Photoshop in corporations and businesses, you're effectively removing the feature. As one of the 1% using Extract, consider this a barbaric yawp by someone who cuts out a lot of heads a day.
"If Contact Sheet is actually just a script then presumably it could stay – which would be a VERY welcome thing.
Why? because I am more likely to open Photoshop to do a quick bit of crop, resize, colour edit than anything else and 'current' experience would show than opening another piece of software to do another job is not really a productivity gain. Not everyone uses Bridge to manage tasks like this. So can we have it back soon please." – Jon Renshaw
Jon, you do realise you can do all the editing that you mention above in Bridge. Quicker than using PS too. And as Bridge designed for file handling programme is a far more sensible programme to make a contact sheet, not a bitmap editor. So the more sensible thing to do is open Bridge not PS!
"Our job, however, is often to filter what people ask for into what they need (which may be a different animal)." That's true enough. (I'm a programmer myself and this is something I constantly keep in mind, including when I wrote the comment.)
Here's how I look at it: Configurator makes you start over, so you start out with negative fifty points. Configurator making it easier to design a panel gains it points. The way I see it, the offered functionality does not get all the way up back to zero yet for the purposes of customizing a toolbox, which was what, I'm guessing, more people asked for than did being able to create panels with macros or scripts on.
Of course not all feature requests should be taken at face value for optimal functionality, but the Configurator could well have been focused more towards building a better version of the existing tools. It seems like a weird first focus is what I'm saying.
Re: Chris Comb's concern:
"Extract" is only a plug-in — you shouldn't need to involve IT in just downloading it and popping it into your Plug-ins folder.
Actually, you may find that just putting a copy of the CS3 Extract plug-in into CS4 would also work for you — depending on your Platform and System.
[It works on G5 Macs running on 10.4.11]
Thanks for the tip, but many IT departments disallow write access to /Applications/ and its subfolders. Though I'm glad to hear the plug-ins are downloadable and not checkboxes in Photoshop's installer, as I thought this blog post had originally laid them out to be.
To get around an unaccessible /Applications folder, put the plug-in in some other folder like /Documents/Plugins_Here.
Then set your "Additional Plug-ins Folder" in Preferences –> Plug-ins.
Restart Photoshop and Robert is your mother's brother.
[Or even your father's! –J.]
The company I work for is always slow at getting the upgrades, so I'm slow on this one. While it makes sense to move functions to Bridge like web gallery and PDF presentation. It creates real havoc with those of us who script. I'm finally getting around to updating a script our company used, part of which is put contact sheets into a PDF presentation for emailing. Script worked great in CS3, but CS4, I can't figure out how to access the PDF presentation, and the scripting guide is little to no help. I would love to see better documentation on scripting Bridge & now Lightroom. Simple examples are great, because after years of looking at the scripting guides, I still have trouble figuring out how these things are really suppose to work.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Show Hide image Politics 22 September 2011 "I'm ripping up the rule book": Mehdi Hasan interviews Ed Miliband The Labour leader on the August riots, News International and the economy. Sign-up I am greeted by a smiling Ed Miliband at the doorway of his Westminster office on a sunny, September morning. It is the first time I have met the Labour leader since James Macintyre's and my biography of him was published in June. I can't contain my curiosity. What did he make of it? "I'm really embarrassed to say I haven't read it," he says, with a laugh. "I'm sorry. It's nothing personal. I just think, whether it's good or bad stuff, you're better off not reading it. It's your job to keep your eye on the prize." Despite having had to interrupt his holiday in Devon to return to London and react to the August riots, Miliband, in a crisp, white shirt and dark purple tie, looks fresh and relaxed after his break. Sitting on the edge of a green couch in the corner of his office, the Labour leader says he has had his "ups and downs" over the past 12 months. "What I've learned is that I'm a far more level-headed person than much of the Westminster village." Miliband believes that the weekly joust that is Prime Minister's Questions, in particular, is over-rated. "I always say after PMQs, whether it goes well or badly, that the gap between triumph and disaster is incredibly narrow. Me saying Cameron chucked bread rolls was a great triumph and yet, the week before, [my performance] was supposed to be a great disaster. Who remembers it now?" Does he have any regrets? He laughs. "Clearly, I shouldn't have used the phrase 'blank page'." His biggest frustration, though, is "not having more time with my kids". What about his relations with his brother, David, whom he narrowly defeated in the contest for the Labour leadership? The former foreign secretary has announced that he will not attend this year's party conference in Liverpool. His younger brother tells me that he made the "right decision": "We talked about it. David was worried about people following him around. He didn't want to attract attention or be part of a soap opera." For the Labour leader, it is the "big picture" that matters. He believes that: "You only win an election as leader of the opposition if you have a clear sense of what's wrong with the country and what needs to change. I don't think David Cameron had that, before the election." In recent months, the coalition's approval ratings have been falling but Miliband isn't complacent. "I don't believe that governments lose elections and oppositions don't win them. That sounds too much like a consolation to people who lose elections." Looking back over the past year, he describes the phone-hacking affair as a "particular moment". Why? "Because people had a sense that we were reflecting the mood of the country. And that's what you want to try to do as leader of the opposition. It was a terrible set of things that had happened, but I hope some good will come out of it." Miliband takes credit for the bold decision to break with the Murdochs, beginning with his call for Rebekah Brooks, then chief executive of News International, to resign. "It was my personal decision. I knew it would never be the same again. We were ripping up the rule book. The rule book said you didn't take on News International, you didn't take on vested interests, because, as with the 'too-big-to-fail' banks, they were 'too big to be challenged'." There were reports at the time that a News International insider had warned Miliband's aides that its newspapers would "turn on" their man. "They were very clear with us," he says, "that Rebekah Brooks and Rupert Murdoch would be the two people standing at News International when everyone else was gone." Was he worried? He grins. "They weren't threatening to shoot me in an alleyway." For Miliband, it was "very instructive, because it was a set of people whose power had never been challenged and who thought they were untouchable . . . That's why you've got to rip up the rule book. That's got to change." Miliband's disparagers have argued that he waited far too long to challenge Murdoch; they point to his attendance at the News International summer party in June, just three weeks before the start of "Hackgate". "I said at the time that I should have said more earlier," he says quietly. "You can't judge people by which parties they go to; you judge people by whether they are willing to speak out without fear or favour." He says the "big theme" of this year's party conference, for him and for Labour, is the necessity to take on "a political consensus that needs to be challenged and changed". Miliband makes repeated references to "ripping up the rule book" - a line that I suspect may find its way into his conference speech. "I use the phrase 'ripping up the rule book', because what I am going to be arguing is that the set of things I've talked about - the squeezed middle, what's happened to young people, responsibility at the top and bottom - they're not coincidences or accidents; they're part of an economic and political settlement of some decades and that settlement's got to change." He continues: "It's about everything from inequality to the vested interests who think they're immune from democracy, to employers who don't exercise responsibility, to the triumph of finance over industry . . . It's about an ethic of take-what-you-can, something-for-nothing, the short term, the fast buck." He becomes animated. "The potential of this country is being held back. And it's not just being held back by a Tory government . . ." He stops himself. "It is being held back by a Tory government but it's not just that. It's also about an economic settlement that, to a large extent, we accepted when we were in government. All that has got to change . . . [It's about] a very clear and different direction of travel." Among the most provocative set of ideas to emerge from his first year as Labour leader has been "Blue Labour", with its emphasis on community and tradition. Does Blue Labour still have a role to play? "This is what Blue Labour means to me," he says. "It's about this idea of responsibility and solidarity. We rebuilt the fabric of the country but we didn't change the ethic of the economy. That is my critique of the last Labour government. That's why I think Blue Labour is important." Miliband is at pains to point out, however, that he "totally disagreed" with Maurice Glasman's call to ban all immigration to the UK and to engage with supporters of the English Defence League (EDL). "Maurice doesn't clear his interviews with me." Is Glasman his "guru"? "No," he says. Miliband thinks that it is "important in a party in which people felt debate had been shut down for 16 years to feel that a space had opened up". Having enthusiastically embraced the "insurgent" label during last year's leadership campaign, he is keen to signal that his radicalism and his ambition are undimmed. Caution is not an option. "This is not a time or a place for low-risk [leadership] or going back to 'You're all doing rather well, please re-elect us' or 'These guys are crap, just elect us'." For Miliband, the party conference is an opportunity to restate his call for a fundamental change in political and economic direction. "What the conference has to do is to understand the moment we're in," he contends. "We're not just in a moment of knee-jerk crises such as with the eurozone; we're in a moment when we need to take a step back and think: hang on, where is our society going? Where is our economy going? What needs to change?" "And this coalition" - he corrects himself - "this Conservative-led government is never going to solve the problems of a squeeze on living standards. The Tories' answer to the failures of free-market fundamentalism is more free-market fundamentalism." Miliband is eager to discuss the virtues of his Refounding Labour project. He says that he wants to "turn the Labour Party into a movement". He praises trade-union levy-payers: "Three million people, the most underused resource of our party." These levy-payers played a decisive role in his victory in the leadership contest last September. A year on, though, trade unionists are falling out of love with him. In his address to the Trades Union Congress on 13 September, Miliband was heckled when he repeated his opposition to the one-day strike that took place on 30 June over pay and pensions, by teachers and civil servants. He doesn't have any regrets. "On 30 June, the reason I didn't back the strike was because negotiations were still going on," he says, before adding, "affiliated unions to the Labour Party didn't go on strike, because they didn't think it was the right time to strike either." Will he then support the co-ordinated strike by Labour-affiliated unions such as Unite and Unison, planned for 30 November? "I'm not going to get into hypotheticals about strikes that may or may not happen. What I'm going to do is say: government has a responsibility to properly negotiate and they're not doing it and they've got to do it." What if they don't? Should the unions do nothing? "I think that unions should demand a proper engagement from the government and we will support them." But what if, as is likely to be the case, negotiations between the two sides break down? Miliband won't budge. "Look, the unions have to make their own judgement about what they do. I've got to make a judgement about whether industrial action is justified or whether it's unjustified." Is it justified to take action on 30 November? "We're not at 30 November," he says, exasperated. "I'll make a judgement about that if we get to that." So, just to clarify, he won't back the strike? "I'm not going to get into hypotheticals," he replies. "Let's see where we are at the end of November. What I'm going to say to the government is: you've got to get round the table, it's your responsibility to stop this industrial action from happening. You've got to negotiate in good faith and that's the position I'm going to take." Is there a scenario in which he would back a strike? Again the answer comes back: "I'm not going to get into hypotheticals." Despite anaemic growth and rising unemployment, the Tories retain a double-digit opinion-poll lead on the economy. Can he explain why? "The rhetoric of 'there is no alternative' is . . . powerful," he suggests. However, he believes that Labour has a credible and coherent alternative. "We have a very clear plan: cut VAT to get the economy moving, use the bankers' bonus tax to get young people back to work and build new homes, and have proper, international, co-ordinated action. At the moment, you've got collective austerity. This is the first government in history with an export-led growth strategy that is demanding that other countries practise austerity. It is completely illogical and wrong-headed and won't work." At PMQs on 14 September, Miliband claimed that the Chancellor, George Osborne, had "lashed himself to the mast" of austerity. Hasn't he lashed himself to the Darling plan and its rather arbitrary target to halve the deficit over four years? "If growth had carried on, it would have been easier to halve the deficit over four years," he says. Growth is close to non-existent - isn't it time for a rethink? I reel off a list of economists - including Paul Krugman, Nouriel Roubini, the Financial Times's Martin Wolf and the New Statesman's David Blanchflower - who have urged the government to abandon its austerity agenda and go for a new round of short-term stimulus spending. Why, then, is Labour so timid on this issue? "We're saying we are going to cut VAT to get the economy going . . ." I interrupt. Will that be enough to prevent another Great Depression? "It's one thing to get the economy moving," Miliband replies. So, no new stimulus? "A VAT cut would get the economy moving," is all he will say, reminding me that the deficit "has got to be brought down". Last month, the German and French governments signalled their support for a Europe-wide tax on financial transactions - a proposal promptly rejected by Osborne. Miliband, on the other hand, is a supporter. "We're for an international transaction tax," he tells me. He says he is considering a proposal by Robert Skidelsky, cross-bench peer and biographer of John Maynard Keynes, to scale up the government's new Green Investment Bank to become a National Investment Bank, with the power to borrow, and a specific mandate to invest in transport infrastructure, social housing and environmental projects. "It's something we're looking at," he says. "It's an interesting idea. It's something Ed [Balls] and I have talked about. It's definitely an idea worth exploring." Curiously, for a new leader who promised a break with Blairism, Miliband has a distinctly Blair-like speaking style: his answers are peppered with "ers" and "y'knows"; he makes repeated references to "doing the right thing". Blair, however, was a master communicator in public. Miliband's speeches have been criticised as dry and lacklustre and his nasal voice is much mocked. According to a new report commissioned by the Fabian Society, based on polling and focus group discussions, he remains largely unknown to the majority of voters; the report says he has to "define himself as a leader and fast". What does he say to those who don't think he has what it takes to make it to No 10? "They're wrong," he says flatly. What about the recent Populus poll showing 49 per cent of Labour voters could not see him as prime minister? "Honestly, I notice these things but I don't take much notice of them," he replies, with a shrug of his shoulders. Isn't there a danger that he is in denial? Miliband says he knows absolutely "what we need to do as a party and what I need to do as a person. What we need to do is set out a very clear sense of how we thinks Britain needs to change and how we're going to change it. I've got to show what makes me tick." So can he sum up in a sentence what makes him tick? He pauses. "The idea that there is huge potential in this country and it is being held back and that this is an unfair, unequal and unjust country for too many people and it has got to change." Perhaps, I suggest, he just doesn't feel comfortable discussing his image. "I don't mind talking about it," he says, defiantly. Nor, he argues, is he in denial: "Of course, you have to worry about your image. It would be crackers to say you don't care." I'm told by senior Labour sources that their party leader has been receiving media - and, specifically, television - training, but Miliband denies this. All he will say is: "Of course you want to project as well as you can and that's very important." Does he accept that he still has a great deal of work to do on his voice and his communication skills? "I'm not getting into that. Everybody can do better." If, as the Labour leader suggests, the time has come to rip up the political and economic rule book, to take on Britain's vested interests and to offer a credible alternative to the coalition's programme of cuts, he will have to start performing at his very best - in Liverpool and beyond. "Ed: the Milibands and the Making of a Labour Leader" by Mehdi Hasan and James Macintyre is published by Biteback (£16.99) Mehdi Hasan is a contributing writer for the New Statesman and the co-author of Ed: The Milibands and the Making of a Labour Leader. He was the New Statesman's senior editor (politics) from 2009-12. Subscribe For more great writing from our award-winning journalists subscribe for just £1 per month! This article first appeared in the 26 September 2011 issue of the New Statesman, The fifty people who matter SUBSCRIBE More


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Iam so looking forward to the end of firsts.
We live in an era of firsts, which is a good thing. The first female Secret Service director. The first African-American president. Most recently, the first openly gay man in a major professional sport.
Sometimes, the first barrier is broken and the feeling is joy. No matter your political persuasion, it made you feel good about America and its capacity to transcend its stained history to watch Barack Obama take the oath of office, his hand on Abraham Lincoln's Bible.
Sometimes, the barrier is broken and the feeling is joy leavened by puzzlement: Really? What took so long? Don't get me wrong. It's great that Washington Wizards center Jason Collins felt free, finally, to come out of the closet. If you are gay, or know someone who is gay - which is to say, pretty much all of us - it has been quite the year.
But when politicians who once squirmed at questions about same-sex marriage are now elbowing their way to microphones to pledge their support for it, how weird is it that the openly gay male athlete barrier took so long to fall?
After all, the notion of the lesbian athlete has long been a big yawn. But boys being boys, the idea that you could be a jock and be gay was harder to dislodge.
As Collins wrote in Sports Illustrated, "I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, 'I'm different.' If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand."
But the list of firsts is dwindling, and the era of firsts is drawing to a close. Twenty or 30 years ago, the first barriers were falling rapidly. Now, it's like a bag of microwave popcorn that is almost finished. Seconds elapse between the popping kernels.
The firsts are entering the realm of history, and firsts past are, for the most part, different than firsts present. What once was fought now is celebrated. Witness 42, the movie about Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball. Robinson had to endure the vilest taunts simply to play the game.
Collins received a phone call from President Barack Obama and supportive tweets and statements from first lady Michelle Obama and former President Bill Clinton. No doubt there will be some homophobic slurs and juvenile behavior. But you can't imagine Collins' teammates signing a petition demanding not to have to play with him, as did some of Robinson's fellow Dodgers.
Yet Collins' "first-ness" isn't the only surprisingly tardy, tiresomely retro recent example. 60 Minutes ran a piece Sunday night about jockey Rosie Napravnik, who will be the only woman racing in the Kentucky Derby this weekend. Napravnik described how, when she began racing, male jockeys "gave me a pretty hard time. ... They would try to intimidate me in the races, put me in a tight spot up against the rail or in between two horses."
Even now, she said, "There still are owners and trainers that don't want to ride a female," she said. Hecklers at the track will shout, "Go home and have a baby! Go home and stay in the kitchen!"
Seriously? In 2013? I'm not a racing fan, but I hope Napravnik wins the Derby, just so we can check that box and be done with it.
Which brings me back to the point: longing for the end of firsts, for the moment when the achievement of an African-American, or a woman, or a gay man will have become a matter of routine.
In this sense, the fifth woman to sit on the Supreme Court, or the third openly gay senator, or the second African-American president, will be as significant as the first. The critical mass of 20 women senators matters, a lot. On the flip side, so does the near-total absence of African-Americans (there are, briefly, two, neither elected to the post: Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina, and Democrat Mo Cowan of Massachusetts).
The goal should be to get to the point where what once seemed remarkable will have become no big deal. Because that, in itself, will be an awfully big deal.
© 2013 Washington Post Writers Group


text:
Diflucan In Saline Piggyback
OTHER NAME(S): Diflucan In Saline Piggyback
Fluconazole is an azole antifungal used to prevent and treat a variety of fungal infections. It works by stopping the growth of fungus.
How to use Diflucan In Saline Piggyback
This medication is given by injection into a vein as directed by your doctor, usually once daily. Dosage is based on your medical condition and response to treatment. For children, the dosage is also based on weight.
If you are giving this medication to yourself at home, learn all preparation and usage instructions from your health care professional. Before using, check this product visually for particles or discoloration. If either is present, do not use the liquid. Learn how to store and discard medical supplies safely.
This medication works best when the amount of medicine in your body is kept at a constant level. Therefore, use this drug at evenly spaced intervals.
Continue to take this medication until the full prescribed amount is finished, even if symptoms disappear. Stopping the medication too early may result in a return of the infection.
Tell your doctor if your condition persists or worsens.
Side Effects
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach/abdominal pain, hair loss, or headache may occur. If any of these effects persist or worsen, tell your doctor promptly.
Remember that your doctor has prescribed this medication because he or she has judged that the benefit to you is greater than the risk of side effects. Many people using this medication do not have serious side effects.
Tell your doctor right away if you have any serious side effects, including: easy bruising/bleeding, signs of your adrenal glands not working well (such as loss of appetite, unusual tiredness, weight loss).
Get medical help right away if any of these rare but very serious side effects occur: severe dizziness, fainting, fast/irregular heartbeat, seizures.
This drug may rarely cause serious (possibly fatal) liver disease. If you notice any of these highly unlikely but very serious side effects, seek immediate medical attention: severe stomach/abdominal pain, persistent nausea/vomiting, yellowing eyes/skin, dark urine.
A very serious allergic reaction to this drug is rare. However, get medical help right away if you notice any symptoms of a serious allergic reaction, including: fever that doesn't go away, new or worsening lymph node swelling, rash, itching/swelling (especially of the face/tongue/throat), severe dizziness, trouble breathing.
This is not a complete list of possible side effects. If you notice other effects not listed above, contact your doctor or pharmacist.
In the US -
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or at www.fda.gov/medwatch.
In Canada - Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to Health Canada at 1-866-234-2345.
Before using fluconazole, tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are allergic to it; or to other azole antifungal drugs (e.g., itraconazole); or if you have any other allergies. This product may contain inactive ingredients, which can cause allergic reactions or other problems. Talk to your pharmacist for more details.
Before using this medication, tell your doctor or pharmacist your medical history, especially of: liver disease, kidney disease.
Fluconazole may cause a condition that affects the heart rhythm (QT prolongation). QT prolongation can rarely cause serious (rarely fatal) fast/irregular heartbeat and other symptoms (such as severe dizziness, fainting) that need medical attention right away.
The risk of QT prolongation may be increased if you have certain medical conditions or are taking other drugs that may cause QT prolongation. Before using fluconazole, tell your doctor or pharmacist of all the drugs you take and if you have any of the following conditions: certain heart problems (heart failure, slow heartbeat, QT prolongation in the EKG), family history of certain heart problems (QT prolongation in the EKG, sudden cardiac death).
Low levels of potassium or magnesium in the blood may also increase your risk of QT prolongation. This risk may increase if you use certain drugs (such as diuretics/"water pills") or if you have conditions such as severe sweating, diarrhea, or vomiting. Talk to your doctor about using fluconazole safely.
Older adults may be more sensitive to the side effects of this drug, especially QT prolongation (see above).
During pregnancy, this medication should be used only when clearly needed. It may harm an unborn baby if used during the first 3 months of pregnancy. Ask about reliable forms of birth control while using this medication and for 1 week after stopping treatment. Discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor.
This drug passes into breast milk. Consult your doctor before breast-feeding.
Drug interactions may change how your medications work or increase your risk for serious side effects. This document does not contain all possible drug interactions. Keep a list of all the products you use (including prescription/nonprescription drugs and herbal products) and share it with your doctor and pharmacist. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicines without your doctor's approval.
A product that may interact with this drug is: clopidogrel.
Many drugs besides fluconazole may affect the heart rhythm (QT prolongation), including pimozide, quinidine, macrolide antibiotics (such as erythromycin), among others.
Fluconazole can slow down the removal of other medications from your body, which can affect how they work. Examples of affected drugs include asunaprevir, cisapride, flibanserin, lomitapide, among others.
If someone has overdosed and has serious symptoms such as passing out or trouble breathing, call 911. Otherwise, call a poison control center right away. US residents can call their local poison control center at 1-800-222-1222. Canada residents can call a provincial poison control center. Symptoms of overdose may include: hallucinations, mental/mood changes.
Laboratory and/or medical tests (e.g., liver function tests) should be performed periodically to monitor your progress or check for side effects. Consult your doctor for more details.
Missed Dose
For the best possible benefit, it is important to receive each scheduled dose of this medication as directed. If you miss a dose, contact your doctor or pharmacist right away to establish a new dosing schedule. Do not double the dose to catch up.
Consult the product instructions and your pharmacist for storage details. Keep all medications away from children and pets.
Do not flush medications down the toilet or pour them into a drain unless instructed to do so. Properly discard this product when it is expired or no longer needed. Consult your pharmacist or local waste disposal company.Information last revised February 2020. Copyright(c) 2020 First Databank, Inc.
Sorry. No images are available for this medication.
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Find More Drugs Used to Treat these Conditions
- thrush
- candidiasis fungal infection of the oropharynx
- urinary tract infection due to Candida albicans fungus
- candidiasis yeast infection that spreads throughout body
- treatment for prevention of disseminated candidiasis
- presence of Candida species yeast in the blood
- a fungal infection in the esophagus due to Candida
- presence of Candida albicans fungus in the blood
- scattered infection caused by Coccidioides fungus
- lung infection caused by Coccidioides fungus
- an infection due to a fungus
- presumed infection in neutropenic patient with fever
- a brain infection called cryptococcal meningitis
- Candida yeast infection of abdominal cavity lining


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teresahopson on 08/12/2010 09:05 PM wrote:
No, I don't believe you can slow it down. You may have to watch it a few times. Maybe you can just watch half the video at a time. Take notes and watch the video as often as you like. Thanks so much for your question.
whorvath12 on 08/12/2010 08:54 PM wrote:
Lots of good information. Is there a way to slow the presentation other than stopping it. I cannot absorb the info this quickly.
teresahopson on 07/12/2010 10:54 PM wrote:
Yes, you are right, the screen is a litte blurry. I think that is a problem with the video, not your computer. Try not to open the video to 'full screen' as the video will get 'fuzzier'--maybe that will help you a little. Thanks so much for visiting WatchKnow and commenting.
email@example.com on 05/30/2010 09:03 AM wrote:
This is a very helpful on line learning apart from the textbook. However I find the full screen is very blur. Is there any way to make it much clearer?
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Texas has five levels of certification. The highest is Licensed Paramedic, followed by EMT-Paramedic, Advanced EMT, EMT-Basic and Emergency Care Attendant (ECA). To view EMS certification/licensure rules and policies, visit our Rules/Policies page.
EMS degree programs are available, though many courses are offered through technical programs and others are approved through programs outside college settings. In Texas, EMS training programs are approved and monitored by staff in field offices located throughout the state. Contact the field office nearest you for information on available EMS courses.
Note that the processes for state application and National Registry application are separate and distinct. You must pass the NR exam to become eligible for state certification; therefore, you must meet all requirements (such as application, fee, etc.) set forth by NR. To view NR requirements, go to www.nremt.org. If you want to work in Texas, you must gain state certification by following the application instructions below. You are allowed to take the NR exam prior to submitting your state application.
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The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) uses the National Registry Assessment Exam as the state-approved exam. • You will be responsible for scheduling an exam with National Registry at www.nremt.org. • In addition to the state application fee, you will be required to pay a testing fee to National Registry. • If you fail the exam, you can not gain certification through another option. • If you fail the exam, you will be given opportunities to retake the exam. If you need an exam accommodation, you will be required to submit a separate request to the NR office. You will be required to meet the NR policy requirements for exam accommodations.
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Just a few days after independence was declared, the South Sudan Women Lawyers Association (SSWLA) issued a rallying call to supporters of women's rights, demanding greater equality and human rights for the women of South Sudan. The association congratulated President Salva Kiir Mayardit and all the South Sudanese people on attaining independence, however they also called on the government to step up their efforts in promoting and protecting the rights of women and girls.
The association was formed in 2010 to represent women legal practitioners and to advocate for women and children's rights. UNDP was instrumental in helping to set up the association, and provided training in areas such as psycho-social support for survivors of violence and English language skills. Following this, UNDP worked closely with the association to provide input on gender issues into the new South Sudan constitution, following a broad, state-wide consultation process.
Currently there are over 60 members, many of whom work in government roles. Some members also work in private practice and in the judiciary. "We envision a society free of all forms of discrimination against women and girls. We are using the law to help achieve this,"said Deputy Chairwoman Akur Ajuoi Magot.
The association acknowledges some of the big achievements made by the Government in the six years since the war ended. Ms Magot highlighted the Land Act, which recognizes women's equal rights to property; the Child Act, giving rights to children; and especially the new Constitution. "It enshrines affirmative action provisions for women," said Ms. Magot, "which opens up spaces for women's participation."
However, there is a long way to go for women in South Sudan.
The new Republic suffers from some of the worst human development indicators in the world. Girls are often subjected to early and forced marriages and are usually unable to receive a proper education. Women experience shocking rates of maternal mortality and have an estimated 90 percent rate of illiteracy.
Looking ahead, the SSWLA suggest the government should ratify and implement some of the major international covenants on women's rights, such as the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the African Women's Protocol, both of which reinforce legal protections for women and girls.
The association also stresses the need for reform of the justice and rule of law sectors, to ensure effective prosecution of those who commit violence against women, and the need for an accountable police service and an independent judiciary. "Women have suffered enough in South Sudan," said George Conway, UNDP's Deputy Head of Office. "We are supporting organizations like the SSWLA at the same time as we work closely with the police and prisons services and the judiciary to build a more accountable, robust justice system that can deliver greater stability and accountability for women in the new nation."


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WASHINGTON -- As part of his plans to trim federal spending, President Obama called for more savings from Medicare in his State of the Union address this week, while Congress was busy with several healthcare investigations.
Obama Pitches Health Savings
Having wealthier seniors pay higher Medicare premiums and allowing the government to negotiate directly with drugmakers on prices are just a few of the ways the federal government can lower its healthcare spending, Obama said during his State of the Union address Tuesday evening.
In the nearly hour-long speech, Obama also advocated doing away with a fee-for-service Medicare reimbursement system and replacing it with one that rewards quality.
"We'll bring down costs by changing the way our government pays for Medicare, because our medical bills shouldn't be based on the number of tests ordered or days spent in the hospital – they should be based on the quality of care that our seniors receive," he said.
SGR Repeal Raises Questions for Congress
Opinions on what to replace Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula with and how to get there vary greatly, comments during a Thursday hearing showed.
Lawmakers looking to pull the trigger on finally doing away with the SGR, which is used to determine physician payments, must iron out many of the details that came to light during a hearing Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee.
But how to pay for doing away with the SGR, finding out how to measure and reward quality, and setting the time before those measures take effect are all unanswered questions. Lawmakers questioned Medicare Payment Advisory Commission Chair Glenn Hackbarth, JD, of Bend, Ore., and other experts for more than 3 hours Thursday on the SGR and payment reforms.
OIG: Drug REMS Falling Short
The FDA program that monitors drug safety risks is ineffective because drug manufacturers fail to comply with the program and the agency fails to enforce it, according to a government report.
Only seven of 49 risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS) reviewed by the FDA last year met all of their goals, according to the report released Wednesday by the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services.
In addition, the inspector general's office said that "nearly half of sponsor assessments for the 49 REMS we reviewed did not include all information requested in FDA assessment plans, and 10 were not submitted to FDA within required time frames."
FDA Panels Back Separate Drugs
The novel botulism antitoxin heptavalent (BAT) received the unanimous backing of the FDA Blood Products Advisory Committee Tuesday, but members voiced strong concerns about its use in children.
On Thursday, all 17 members of the agency's Medical Imaging Drugs Advisory Committee recommended approving a novel gadolinium-based MRI contrast agent (Dotarem) in adults and children older than 2, but not for younger children.
Congress Probes Mental Services at the VA
Mental health services at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) don't seem to be improving despite increases of nearly 40% in both staff and budget in the last 6 years, a congressional committee charged Wednesday.
Veterans still wait on average 50 days for an evaluation through the VA and the suicide rate for veterans increased for the third time in 4 years in 2012, members of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee said. Suicides have surpassed the number of combat deaths.
"While I am and will remain supportive of the improvements the department is attempting to undertake internally, it has become painfully clear to me that VA is focused more on its process and not its outcomes," Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) said during a hearing on the department's efforts in mental healthcare.
Senators Investigate Rx Drug Abuse
Three senators including Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.), who is set to retire at the end of 2014, are asking three federal agencies to investigators efforts on prescription drug abuse.
Rockefeller, along with Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) asked the FDA about its efforts to improve patient and prescriber education about methadone and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) about how it addresses abuse in Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
They also requested a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study on symptoms occurring in newborns exposed to addictive, illegal, or prescription drugs.
HIPAA's Impact on Gun Ownership Questioned
Republican leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee wrote Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking how Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) limits state and local governments from sharing mental health records with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
The request is part of an investigation by Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy, PhD (R-Pa.), a clinical psychologist, into the causes of mass violence.
"According to several news reports and a recent Government Accountability Office Report, several states as well as the District of Columbia do not provide mental health records to NICS over concerns that providing such records violates the HIPAA Privacy Rule," the lawmakers wrote to Sebelius on Thursday.
Health Fraud Recoveries Reach Record Levels
Investigators recovered a record $4.2 billion in fraud of federal health programs for fiscal 2012, HHS announced Monday, up from nearly $4.1 billion in fiscal 2011.
The Obama administration has recovered $14.9 billion in the last four years, up from the $6.7 billion from the prior 4-year period, HHS said.
The department added they have recovered $7.90 for every dollar spent on healthcare-related fraud and abuse efforts in the last 3 years.
Next Week
Congress is off next week for the Presidents' Day holiday.
The American College of Physicians will release its annual "State of the U.S. Health Care System" report on Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, the Institute of Medicine will release its assessment of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, as requested by Congress.


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Home » Blog » Recipes » Bánh Mì Recipe: How to make the classic Vietnamese Sandwich. Let me tell you a story about one of my favorite sandwiches: the Vietnamese Bánh Mì Sandwich! The story about the Bánh Mì is the story about how a classic of the Vietnamese street kitchen – a crispy, meaty, vegetal and spicy punch of a sandwich – has become an international sensation against all odds.
Menu for Au Cheval provided by Allmenus.com. DISCLAIMER: Information shown may not reflect recent changes. Check with this restaurant for current pricing and menu information. A listing on Allmenus.com does not necessarily reflect our affiliation with or endorsement of the listed restaurant, or the listed restaurant's endorsement of Allmenus.com.
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Pre-kindergartners benefit from experiences that support the development of fine motor skills in the hands and fingers. Children should have strength and dexterity in their hands and fingers before being asked to manipulate a pencil on paper. Working on dexterity and strength first can eliminate the development of an inappropriate pencil grasp, which is becoming more commonplace as young children are engaged in writing experiences before their hands are ready. The following activities involve the use of manipulatives which will support young children's fine motor development, and will help to build the strength and dexterity necessary to hold a pencil appropriately.
- Molding and rolling play dough into balls - using the palms of the hands facing each other and with fingers curled slightly towards the palm
- Rolling play dough into tiny balls (peas) using only the finger tips.
- Using pegs or toothpicks to make designs in play dough
- Cutting play dough with a plastic knife or with a pizza wheel by holding the implement in a diagonal volar grasp. (see attached diagram)
- Tearing newspaper into strips and then crumpling them into balls. Use to stuff scarecrow or other art creation.
- Scrunching up 1 sheet of newspaper in one hand. This is a super strength builder.
- Using a plant sprayer to spray plants, (indoors, outdoors) to spray snow (mix food coloring with water so that the snow can be painted), or melt "monsters". (Draw monster pictures with markers and the colors will run when sprayed.)
- Picking up objects using large tweezers such as those found in the "Bedbugs" game. This can be adapted by picking up Cheerios, small cubes, small marshmallows, pennies, etc., in counting games.
- Shaking dice by cupping the hands together, forming an empty air space between the palms.
- Using small-sized screwdrivers like those found in an erector set.
- Lacing and sewing activities such as stringing beads, Cheerios, macaroni, etc.
- Using eye droppers to "pick up" colored water for color mixing or to make artistic designs on paper.
- Rolling small balls out of tissue paper, then gluing the balls onto construction paper to form pictures or designs.
- Turning over cards, coins, checkers, or buttons, without bringing them to the edge of the table.
- Making pictures using stickers or self-sticking paper reinforcements.
- Playing games with the "puppet fingers" -the thumb, index, and middle fingers. At circle time have each child's puppet fingers tell about what happened over the weekend, or use them in songs and finger plays.
Scissor Activities
When scissors are held correctly, and when they fit a child's hand well, cutting activities will exercise the very same muscles which are needed to manipulate a pencil in a mature tripod grasp. The correct scissor position is with the thumb and middle finger in the handles of the scissors, the index finger on the outside of the handle to stabilize, with fingers four and five curled into the palm.
- Cutting junk mail, particularly the kind of paper used in magazine subscription cards.
- Making fringe on the edge of a piece of construction paper.
- Cutting play dough with scissors.
- Cutting straws or shredded paper.
Sensory Activities
The following activities ought to be done frequently to increase postural muscle strength and endurance. These activities also strengthen the child's awareness of his/her hands.
- Wheelbarrow walking, crab walking.
- Clapping games (loud/quiet, on knees together, etc.)
- Catching (clapping) bubbles between hands
- Pulling off pieces of thera-putty with individual fingers and thumb
- Drawing in a tactile medium such as wet sand, salt, rice, or "goop". Make "goop" by adding water to cornstarch until you have a mixture similar in consistency to toothpaste. The "drag" of this mixture provides feedback to the muscle and joint receptors, thus facilitating visual motor control.
- Picking out small objects like pegs, beads, coins, etc., from a tray of salt, sand, rice, or putty. Try it with eyes closed too. This helps develop sensory awareness in the hands.
Establishment of hand dominance is still developing at this point. The following activities will facilitate midline crossing:
- Encourage reaching across the body for materials with each hand. It may be necessary to engage the other hand in an activity to prevent switching hands at midline.
- Refrain specifically from discouraging a child from using the left hand for any activity. Allow for the natural development of hand dominance by presenting activities at midline, and allowing the child to choose freely.
- Start making the child aware of the left and right sides of his body through spontaneous comments like, "kick the ball with your right leg." Play imitation posture games like "Simon Says" with across the body movements.
- When painting at easel, encourage the child to paint a continuous line across the entire paper- also from diagonal to diagonal.
Activities To Develop Handwriting Skills
There are significant prerequisites for printing skills that begin in infancy and continue to emerge through the preschool years. The following activities support and promote fine motor and visual motor development:
The joints of the body need to be stable before the hands can be free to focus on specific skilled fine motor tasks.
- Wheelbarrow walking, crab walking, and wall push-ups.
- Toys: Orbiter, silly putty, and monkey bars on the playground.
Fine Motor Skills
When a certain amount of body stability has developed, the hands and fingers begin to work on movements of dexterity and isolation as well as different kinds of grasps. Children will develop fine motor skills best when they work on a VERTICAL or near vertical surface as much as possible. In particular, the wrist must be in extension. (Bent back in the direction of the hand)
- Attach a large piece of drawing paper to the wall. Have the child use a large marker and try the following exercises to develop visual motor skills:Make an outline of a one at a time. Have the child trace over your line from left to right, or from top to bottom. Trace each figure at least 10 times . Then have the child draw the figure next to your model several times.
- Play connect the dots. Again make sure the child's strokes connect dots fromleft to right, and from top to bottom.
- Trace around stencils - the non-dominant hand should hold the stencil flat and stable against the paper, while the dominant hand pushes the pencil firmly against the edge of the stencil. The stencil must be held firmly.
- Attach a large piece of felt to the wall, or use a felt board. The child can use felt shapes to make pictures. Magnetic boards can be used the same way.
- Have the child work on a chalkboard, using chalk instead of a marker. Do the same kinds of tracing and modeling activities as suggested above.
- Paint at an easel. Some of the modeling activities as suggested above can be done at the easel.
- Magna Doodle- turn it upside down so that the erasing lever is on the top. Experiment making vertical, horizontal, and parallel lines.
This refers to the ability of the eyes to work together to follow and hold an object in the line of vision as needed.
- Use a flashlight against the ceiling. Have the child lie on his/her back or tummy and visually follow the moving light from left to right, top to bottom, and diagonally.
- Find hidden pictures in books. (There are special books for this.)
- Maze activities. (You can buy these in bookstores, and Spags.)
Eye-hand Coordination
This involves accuracy in placement, direction, and spatial awareness.
- Throw bean bags/koosh balls into a hula hoop placed flat on the floor. Gradually increase the distance.
- Play throw and catch with a ball . Start with a large ball and work toward a smaller ball. (Koosh balls are easier to catch than a tennis ball.)
- Practice hitting bowling pins with a ball. (You can purchase these games or make your own with soda bottles and a small ball.)
- Play "Hit the Balloon" with a medium-sized balloon.


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It's the Law!
The USA PATRIOT Act (under the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970) requires gem and jewelry businesses, pawn brokers, money services bureaus, and merchant processor IPOs, as "financial institutions," to maintain a formal Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Program.
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- Income Investing
KBW: Mortgage REITs Near Low End Of Valuation Range; Finding A Floor?
- Order Reprints
- Print Article
Keefe Bruyette & Woods takes a look at the drastic slide in mortgage REITs over the past month, which has undercut the likes of American Capital Agency Corp. (AGNC), Annaly Capital Management (NLY), MFA Financial (MFA), Two Harbors Investment (TWO) and the iShares FTSE NAREITMortgage PLUS Capped Index Fund (REM) by anywhere from 10% to 25%. From KBW:
With mortgage REIT stocks seeming to fall every day, the three most common questions we get are "Is book value down that much?" "What will provide a floor for the stocks?" and "What's going to stabilize the yield curve?" The positives amongst our conclusions are that we can isolate and bracket different sources of book value exposure, and it looks to us like 1) the majority of the damage is done assuming the yield curve stabilizes, and 2) further declines if the curve steepens are likely to be smaller than those seen so far. The bad news is curve stability is largely up to the Fed, and we don't see the Fed putting an end to the uncertainty in the near term....
What will stabilize the yield curve? In our view the Fed intentionally created the uncertainty that's producing the sharp rise and continued volatility in rates. Thus clarity from the Fed is the only thing that can bring back near-term stability, in our view. We're not particularly optimistic on that.
KBW measures book values down an average of 5.8% quarter to date for agency REITs and 2.8% for hybrid model REITs, with fixed-rate agency portfolios down much more than hybrid ARM agency portfolios. KBW sees a floor when book values stabilize and the valuation discount to book stabilizes too, noting that both have been dropping daily.
KBW says book value exposure is the key item, and that can be broken into three major categories of prepay protection premiums (estimating that 75% of that is gone now), duration and duration extension risk (calling that "contained"), and mortgage basis risk (calling that "about neutral"). KBW says stock price discounts to book value are "unusually large" by now, with the group trading at a 14% discount on average before
Thursday's gains
, putting them at the low end of their historical valuation range. "We're not going to suggest that this discount can't get larger, as we have no particular reason to believe it can't go to 20%. But we do think it's important to acknowledge that this is roughly the equivalent of closed end bond funds trading at big discounts to NAV. History has proven this condition can last a long time, but it's also proven that gravity tends to pull back toward zero."
More from KBW:
The stocks least exposed to book value volatility are those exhibiting 1) lower prepay protection premiums, 2) higher concentrations in hybrid ARMs, and 3) tighter duration gaps. These characteristics tend to go hand-in-hand in the sector, and coincidentally the management teams that have managed mortgage REITs through a cycle tend to be the REITs with those characteristics –
Capstead Mortgage Corp
. (
Hatteras Financial Corp
) (managing a private REIT over the last cycle),
Anworth Mortgage Asset Corp.
), and
Dynex Capital
). This happens to be exactly the same list of mortgage REITs paying the lowest dividend yields. Risk/return tradeoffs, go figure.
Top picks? More than any other time in the past five years our answer is "it depends." This is not complicated. If you think the Fed is going to keep buying for a long time then the biggest stock rebounds likely come to those having seen the biggest falls – REITs with the 30Y fixed prepay protected portfolios. If you're not so sure, then your risk/return tradeoff probably favors the hybrid ARM REITs. If you have conviction QE is over and/or the curve will keep on steepening, that leads to an obvious answer as well.


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Notalius wrote:I love you. One thing I'll never understand is ya'll erasing your post count. So many great moments and memories taken away from us
Miller wrote:Too many memories in this place. This is the first place I went to to tell I had finally gotten my first girlfriend.
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We are more than halfway through 2020 and I think it's fair to say it has been a challenging year … More
Tag: enlightenment
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I can't believe that it's Thursday and I'm getting married THIS WEEKEND! Seriously, ever since learning about the show, time has FLOWN by and I'm SO excited to get married to B.
I know that things will be flawless and simply more that I could even imagine so I'm just not even imaging how great it's going to be. At the end of the day all that matters is that we are married and starting our lives together. Man, I get teary even thinking about it. Every time I hear the bridal march, every time I think of our vows and walking down the aisle it gets me so excited and happy.
I remember after hanging out with B for a few months, I was driving home and I just started crying. I never had felt that much happiness in my life and I was so, so happy. I asked one of my friends if that was weird and he told me he was so happy for me and how I had that true emotion. Last night, after another fun, surprising and amazing day of filming and B and I's 'celebratory' dinner at Umami Burger (AMAZING!) I drove my car home and cried again. Those same amazing tears of pure and complete joy and happiness.
I am so excited to spend the weekend with some of our closest family and friends celebrating this exciting time in our lives!
(and so excited to not post about the wedding anymore! which I am sure you guys are all excited for me to stop too! HAHA!)
Sadly, I can't post much at all until after the show airs, in November, but I am going to beg and plead for one measly picture I can put on my facebook and on here. :)
I have a few more special posts before the big day but the countdown is ON!


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Question: As you may know a health reform bill was signed into law in 2010, known commonly as the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. Given what you know about the health reform law, do you have a generally favorable or generally unfavorable opinion of it? Is that a very (favorable/ unfavorable) or somewhat (favorable/ unfavorable) opinion?
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation
Date: Sep. 2019
Universe: Country: United States
Method: telephone: landline and cell phone
Sample Size: 1205
View Question